topic Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards in Credit Cards

I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Trin — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 04:02:29 GMT

For the last three years I have applied to more than twenty credit cards. I have more than enough cards with good spending limits. It is something about getting approved that makes feel good. Does anyone have some advice?

AMEX Delta Gold $8k, Citi HH $6k, AMEX HH Surpass $5k, NFCU $5k, CapOne $1500, HSBC $1250, AMEX Jet Blue $1k, Discover $1k, Barclay Aapple $1400

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 04:45:20 GMT

Hi Trin oh my God I thought I was the only one with this problem, I have about 30 plus credit cards that I don't really need.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

compassion101 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 04:58:28 GMT

Does anyone have some advice?

Sure, stop applying for cards lol

Credit is a long term game, don't try to win it quickly.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

SunriseEarth — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 05:27:23 GMT

@compassion101 wrote:
Does anyone have some advice?

Sure, stop applying for cards lol

Credit is a long term game, don't try to win it quickly.

Hahahah!

OP, perhaps you could put security freezes with the 3 CRAs. You could simply join the Garden and alert people in the thread if you feel like apping. You could do both.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 05:47:38 GMT

+1

Freezing your accounts may be an option for you.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 10:05:19 GMT

Yeah i had same issue. I froze all CRAs and joined the gardening club to keep my mind ocupied when i felt the urge. So now my goals are just to get credit limit increases on all my main cards with out getting a hard inquiry. So with out applying for new credit and getting better credit limits i am now addicted to seeing my scores get bigger and my credit limits getting much bigger as well. And focused on getting the best cash back on all my purchases. Good Luck . Def look up and check out the Gardening Club. Great place to start . They can give you some nice pointers.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

coldnmn — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:05:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah i had same issue. I froze all CRAs and joined the gardening club to keep my mind ocupied when i felt the urge. So now my goals are just to get credit limit increases on all my main cards with out getting a hard inquiry. So with out applying for new credit and getting better credit limits i am now addicted to seeing my scores get bigger and my credit limits getting much bigger as well. And focused on getting the best cash back on all my purchases. Good Luck . Def look up and check out the Gardening Club. Great place to start . They can give you some nice pointers.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

alvon123 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:25:49 GMT

Hahahah!

OP, perhaps you could put security freezes with the 3 CRAs. You could simply join the Garden and alert people in the thread if you feel like apping. You could do both.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Sevenfeet — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:45:39 GMT

These are financial products, pure and simple. Boards like this make a game out of it, but in reality, you need to only have stuff in your portfolio that is working for you (saving you money by cash rewards, travel or specific benefits you can quantify). Just having the next shiny card is USELESS to your financial goals. Every card I have has a purpose...some save me money...some are for travel and some are short-medium term 0% vehicles where I can park debt for a while. There are plenty of other products I could apply for...but they aren't worth my time. You may have different priorities, but you should look at your card portfolio in a manner that helps you long term.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

takeshi74 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:50:25 GMT

@Trin wrote:
Does anyone have some advice?

"Quality, not quantity" and "Its a marathon, not a sprint" would be the standard advice. If your problem is truly addiction I'm not sure forum advice is really going to help. Recognizing your problem is a good first step though. Feeling good isn't going to be sustainable as at some point you'll start getting denials. We can tell you to only apply for what you need but you may need to deal with other underlying issues at play.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

too-much-time — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:54:34 GMT

You need to get out more! As luck would have it, the eggnog season is upon us.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:17:56 GMT

I was addicted last month...until I started getting denials. Then my addiction left real quick and I wish now that I had saved some of those HP's for later on down the road. App for cards that you need but once you get that first denial, stop and head for the garden.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

lg8302ch — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:39:27 GMT

There are at least 3 cards I would want today rather than tomorrow.....but I know that I have come to a limit and need to give it some time....I have a lender that is completely spooked by my credit extension this year (went from 8,5K to 89,5K) and this lender will not allow a CLI. Once this mission is solved I might apply again for 1 card. My last one Chase Marriott is not in the signature yet. (will do it when back home next month) My conclusion: I will not do sprees anymore as the result was getting low limits example Discover and high APR example Freedom....simply not worth it. Prefer to wait and get better terms...this is keeping me in the garden

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

DigitalArk — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:53:33 GMT

I am in the same boat as OP, even till the point that ERT team has given up on me already. All the cards I have acquired in the past 5 months (total 7) have the lowest APR's. But my CL started to drop as the more cards I applied along the way. I am done applying for cards this year. Next year is a new start.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:55:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah i had same issue. I froze all CRAs and joined the gardening club to keep my mind ocupied when i felt the urge. So now my goals are just to get credit limit increases on all my main cards with out getting a hard inquiry. So with out applying for new credit and getting better credit limits i am now addicted to seeing my scores get bigger and my credit limits getting much bigger as well. And focused on getting the best cash back on all my purchases. Good Luck . Def look up and check out the Gardening Club. Great place to start . They can give you some nice pointers.

And we have cookies!

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:56:18 GMT

@Sevenfeet wrote:
These are financial products, pure and simple. Boards like this make a game out of it, but in reality, you need to only have stuff in your portfolio that is working for you (saving you money by cash rewards, travel or specific benefits you can quantify). Just having the next shiny card is USELESS to your financial goals. Every card I have has a purpose...some save me money...some are for travel and some are short-medium term 0% vehicles where I can park debt for a while. There are plenty of other products I could apply for...but they aren't worth my time. You may have different priorities, but you should look at your card portfolio in a manner that helps you long term.

Exactly. I like to think of credit cards as tools. Choose the ones that are of use to you, use them well, and pass on the rest.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

lhcole77 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 18:58:51 GMT

@lg8302ch wrote:
There are at least 3 cards I would want today rather than tomorrow.....but I know that I have come to a limit and need to give it some time....I have a lender that is completely spooked by my credit extension this year (went from 8,5K to 89,5K) and this lender will not allow a CLI. Once this mission is solved I might apply again for 1 card. My last one Chase Marriott is not in the signature yet. (will do it when back home next month) My conclusion: I will not do sprees anymore as the result was getting low limits example Discover and high APR example Freedom....simply not worth it. Prefer to wait and get better terms...this is keeping me in the garden

AGREED!

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:48:36 GMT

@Sevenfeet wrote:
These are financial products, pure and simple. Boards like this make a game out of it, but in reality, you need to only have stuff in your portfolio that is working for you (saving you money by cash rewards, travel or specific benefits you can quantify). Just having the next shiny card is USELESS to your financial goals. Every card I have has a purpose...some save me money...some are for travel and some are short-medium term 0% vehicles where I can park debt for a while. There are plenty of other products I could apply for...but they aren't worth my time. You may have different priorities, but you should look at your card portfolio in a manner that helps you long term.

Mainly agree, but a broad definition of "working for you" can include short-term gains and the purpose for a card can simply be "$400 bonus". With a thick enough file, it is fine to apply cards merely for the sign-up bonus and then churn, having no intention in keeping them in the portfolio for real use. And as discussed here many times, these sign-up bonuses will usually out-perform any cash-back from real spending on a carefully selected card.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

catladyatty — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 17:11:36 GMT

I know what you mean. I just apped last week, which was my first time since early 2011... it was a rush, to say the least. Prior to last week's apping, I was addicted to/obsessed with monitoring my reports, and now I just need to get back into that. Try that..... it's also a great rush to see your debt go down and your score go up, I promise.

Re: I am Addicted to applying for Credit Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 20:14:46 GMT

I am sorta addicted to apping too. Went from no credit 13 months ago, to 11 tradelines now. Lots of denials along the way.

I don't really need it. Always pay everything in full that month.

It's just fun. I guess someday I want to buy a house, and have perfect credit to do so.